Overview

In a continual effort to improve aid effectiveness and timely support to the host Government, the UN system in Kyrgyzstan has designed a One UN Programme (2010 – 2011), which is the framework for planning and response of the UN system to address the effects of energy and food insecurity and the global economic crisis on the most vulnerable in the country. The One Programme builds on the commitments of the current United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2005-2011 (UNDAF). Following UN Country Team (UNCT) discussions, the framework for One Programme was approved by the Regional Directors Team.

One Fund in Kyrgyzstan is a pooled funding mechanism specifically to support the new or expanded initiatives formulated in response to emerging national needs and addressing the effects of energy and food insecurity and the global economic crisis. These are developmental initiatives (to be implemented with urgency) and humanitarian initiatives (addressing defined humanitarian needs). Resources for the One Fund will be mobilized by the UNCT through various sources, including the Expanded Delivering as One Funding Window.

One Fund in Kyrgyzstan has the following six thematic areas: (1) Social Services; (2) Food Security; (3) Agriculture; (4) Energy; (5) Environment; and (6) Risk Management.

Development of the One Programme has given the UN system the unique opportunity to increase its effectiveness within the country by adopting the ‘Delivering as One’ guiding principles in order to expand and accelerate activities to address the effects of energy and food insecurity and the global economic crisis, and as a mechanism to attract additional funds for this purpose.

Under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator in collaboration and consultation with the Joint Steering Committee, the One Fund is intended to facilitate the realization of One Programme outcomes, channelling funds towards the emerging priorities.

Assistance Strategy

In the past two years, the Kyrgyz Republic has been hit by high fuel and food prices, energy deficits and the destabilising effects of the global economic crisis. These shocks are having a serious impact on vulnerable groups. As an urgent step, a Flash Appeal was launched in November 2008 to address some of the most pressing humanitarian needs in the winter-spring period. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) is convinced that by continuing to work together on a series of longer-term interventions, the UN can support the country to return to a path of sustainable human development and get back on track towards meeting its development targets, including the Millennium Development Goals.

The UN is fully aware that the insecurities in Kyrgyzstan in the areas of water, energy and food are chronic and recurrent. The problems reflect the long-standing lack of investment in the country along with capacity constraints. However, it is also true that the challenges facing the country are significantly aggravated by the global economic crisis, reflected first and foremost in stagnant economic growth and declining remittances. In addition, the spike in food and energy prices in 2007 and 2008, which has receded globally, remains an issue in Kyrgyzstan. Energy price increases reflect the fact that these resources were much cheaper in the country than globally; nevertheless, the impact of such sharp increases is particularly evere for vulnerable groups. Continuing high food prices are harder to explain, but still of real concern for the significant portion of food insecure people in the country (more than one third of the population are either moderately or severely food insecure).

The UNCT in Kyrgyzstan believes that the appropriate response is to combine short- and medium-term interventions to provide sustainable support to vulnerable groups to mitigate the effects of the multiple crises. While some of these interventions might be designed to prevent potential serious humanitarian consequences, most fit into a development framework, albeit one that is implemented more urgently than traditional development programming, and with a greater degree of collaboration and coordination between donors. The UN in Kyrgyzstan is committed to pooling our strengths as a system and delivering our support in this context as ‘One’. In addition to ongoing programming under the 2005-2011 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), the One UN Programme contains a set of interventions which expand the current UN development assistance to address the consequences of new economic challenges, and food and energy insecurity. Some of these are scaled-up or accelerated already planned interventions, while others have been newly designed to meet the new challenges.

Governance

The overall management of the One Fund will be led and coordinated by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will be co-chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator, and First Vice Prime Minister, and will consist of representatives of Participating UN Organizations. Donors may be invited to be members of the Steering Committee based on the decision of the Steering Committee. The Administrative Agent is an ex-officio member of the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee will:

Monitor the overall progress of the One Programme and results achieved by the Implementing partners – governmental or non-governmental – as supported by the Participating UN Organizations.

Review and jointly approve criteria for resource allocation described in the section ‘Criteria for Allocation for the One Fund Resources’.

Review and jointly approve allocations of One Fund resources to projects and joint programmes.

Instruct the Administrative Agent to disburse the One Fund resources to the Participating UN Organizations accordingly (pass-through fund modality only),

Approve and update, as necessary, the One Fund TOR as well as the TOR of the Steering Committee TOR and rules and procedures;

Review and approve the consolidated narrative and financial reports prepared by the Administrative Agent (for pass-through funding modality) for submission to the Steering Committee.

The Resident Coordinator will provide strategic leadership to guide the use of One Fund resources based on the One Programme; ensure , in consultation with the Steering Committee, the allocation of the One Fund resources, based on the criteria described in section ‘Criteria for Allocation for the One Fund Resources’; lead the process for mobilisation of resources for the One Fund in collaboration with Participating UN Organizations; and be accountable for the overall efficient management of the One Fund and the utilization of the funds in the One Fund.

The Office of the Resident Coordinator is responsible for support to the strategic leadership role of the Resident Coordinator for the One Fund. It will provide support for all the tasks designated to the Resident Coordinator listed above, including secretarial functions such as agenda preparation for the Steering Committee meetings, taking minutes during the meetings of the Steering Committee, distribution of background documents prior the meetings of the Steering Committee, and analytical functions such as monitoring the progress reports, and preparing quarterly updates for the Steering Committee on approved projects. Drawing on the consolidated reports from the Administrative Agent, the Office of the Resident Coordinator will provide strategic focus including analysis of progress and lessons to be learned for future programme implementation.

The UNDP MPTF Office has been appointed the Administrative Agent of the One Fund in Kyrgyzstan. Its responsibilities include the receipt, administration and management of contributions from Donors; disbursement of such funds to the Participating UN Organizations in accordance with the approved programmatic documents; and provision of consolidated narrative and financial reports, in accordance with the MOU, on the One Fund in Kyrgyzstan to donors, based on reports of the Participating UN Organizations.

Decision Making

Allocation of One Fund resources will be made based on the following criteria: 1) Initial allocation: Individual projects and joint programmes must meet a ‘preparedness criteria’; and 2) Performance-based additional allocations: Programme implementation must be assessed as ‘satisfactory’.

1) Initial Allocation to agency-specific projects and joint programmes: Projects/Joint Programmes must meet the following ‘preparedness criteria’ to be considered for approval by the Steering Committee: (i) agency-specific projects and joint programmes relate to national needs as identified in Country Development Strategy 2009-2011 and national policies and strategies; (ii) initial concept notes must detail the justification for the project/programme, its objectives, outcomes, key indicators and activities; (iii) a budget outline for one or two years (depending on the duration of the individual project or joint programme) must be included with the above documentation for assessment.

After approval by the Steering Committee, Participating UN Organizations will be invited to prepare full project and/ joint programme documents, which must include the following information: finalized agency-specific project or joint programme document; results framework; annual workplan; monitoring and evaluation plan, and partnership strategy. All agency-specific projects/joint programmes documents will be reviewed by the Steering Committee. Allocations from the One Fund resources will be based on the joint decision of the Steering Committee, and according to the unfunded costs of the agency-specific project and joint programme documents. The initial allocation will be made for the 12 months period. The success of the implementation of the first 12 month budget allocation will be taken into consideration when a second budget allocation is being requested. The total amount of funds available in the One Fund will be programmed by the Steering Committee and transferred to Participating Organizations, as per the approved agency-specific project and joint programme documents.

2) Performance-Based Additional Allocation to agency-specific projects or joint programmes: Following the initial allocation of 12 months, every 6 months there will be an opportunity for Performance-Based Additional Allocations. These will be based on a review of the implementation performance of agency-specific projects and joint programmes in relation to progress towards outcomes and outputs defined in the project or joint programme documents and Results Based Matrices. The executing agency for agency-specific project or executing agencies within the joint programme will summarise progress towards the defined outcomes and outputs, into a standard format prepared in collaboration and consent with the Steering Committee. This analysis will be reviewed by the Steering Committee.

If progress is deemed ‘satisfactory’, and additional funds are needed, then the agency-specific project or a joint programme may request an additional allocation. The Steering Committee will examine what percentage of the agency-specific project or a joint programme is unfunded and the importance it was given (based on prioritization) in the initial allocation of the One Fund funds to determine the amount for additional allocation.

Participating Organizations are required to submit final year-end expenditures by April 30 in the following year;
Interim expenditure figures are submitted on a voluntary basis and therefore current year figures are not final until the year-end expenditures have been submitted.